Oktoberfest
American Pinball, 2018Quoted from PinMonk:...Stern is buying off-the-rack Meanwell power supplies. If it's good enough for Stern, it should be good enough for AP.
Ditto^^^ A power supply is somewhat of a commodity item. No need to reinvent the wheel every time, and Meanwell seems to have a good reputation.
Quoted from arcadem:Lloyd, I understand your point. But, let's wait and see how much they will cost each individual buyer that still wants them. I will hazard a guess that if AP offered them as an add on item for even $50 per set, they would get a high take rate. And, I would also bet that a set as a mod will be at least $50 if not more. I just hope that AP does not nickle and dime other more important features and components. Could this be a harbinger of that? We shall see.
Sorry, Totally don't understand your point or position? Looking at revision 2 API added a shit Ton of New code, art, effort, parts, staff, design, etc etc to continue to make the game great and at 0$ price increase to you. They omit a single meaningless plastic figure and you're up in arms that they are somehow cheating you or skimping on the game? Just doesn't make sense. And furthermore, they Are doing the right thing selling 1 great game at 1 affordable level. Please don't fall for the "if only you made a Premium" we would all buy it. BS! Everyone will be lining up to castrate API like a Monkey for pinching the market as they do with Stern and JJP. API nor any company will Ever make everyone happy. I for one and impressed they even acknowledged or shared why they omitted that meaningless part. Stand up honesty is rarely a bad sign for a companies future growth. And yes, many mod makers will probably make these and other parts. The difference is we are not forcing you to Buy them that is your decision. This game is API's decision and so far it appears to be a good one!
American Pinball did an open house tonight (and apparently tomorrow and Wednesday as well). Stopped by around 5:30 pm to give Oktoberfest a run. Super cool game and fun to play. Deep rules, but easy to get into quickly. Games can go for awhile, which I liked. The machine seems like a solid, quality game which was confirmed when they offered the ones who showed up a factory tour. They even let me play a production and a proto unit.
Big thanks to Nirmal and Josh who hung around after work hours to chat about pinball, answer endless questions, tour their facility and play a bunch of games.
Quoted from CaptainRedEye:American Pinball did an open house tonight (and apparently tomorrow and Wednesday as well). Stopped by around 5:30 pm to give Oktoberfest a run. Super cool game and fun to play. Deep rules, but easy to get into quickly. Games can go for awhile, which I liked. The machine seems like a solid, quality game which was confirmed when they offered the ones who showed up a factory tour. They even let me play a production and a proto unit.
Big thanks to Nirmal and Josh who hung around after work hours to chat about pinball, answer endless questions, tour their facility and play a bunch of games.
Thanks for the review, I’m excited to try this game at TPF!
Quoted from arcadem:Really poor behavior by a company that is trying to create a name and a niche for itself.
Learning and practicing good budgeting and adherence to it is an example of a good company.
What you argue is just $5... do that for the multitude of decisions that impact a build and you'll end up unable to market what you want, at the price and margin you want.
If someone wants some plastic stick-ons.. go for it. I'd rather they cost out some figures than attack something not so trivial to change after the fact.
Quoted from benheck:The fact that almost every woman in the artwork had their butts to camera was too consistent to not be deliberate.
My guess is butts are more "politically correct" (or more importantly wife-friendly) than boobs.
I think, you are over thinking. Those bumper plastics lend themselves to a butt shot, like half an hour glass if you catch my drift.
Quoted from PinMonk:Forget "some of" they are the LEADER in those areas. The only place they lag is in getting them made and on route reliability.
Which seems to be somewhat important... I could be wrong though...
Quoted from jellikit:A few more shots of Oktoberfest from last night at Pac-Man Entertainment.
Oh you lucky person you !
LTG : )
Quoted from arcadem:The elimination of the bumper car figures is a classic case of stupid economics. In quantities, how much could they have cost? $5 each? As for buying "mods" later, the cost will be undoubtedly higher, a needless added cost to the consumer. The MOD guys are the winners here and the OKT buyers and AP? Not so much. This sure casts a new light on AP's mindset, It is as tight as JJP was in not including a print copy of the manual for the POTC LE. For $7000 for a plain OKT and $9500 for a POTC LE, such items previously shown/provided are not too much to expect. WTF, if margins are that tight, add $15 to the price of the game and do it right! Really poor behavior by a company that is trying to create a name and a niche for itself.
Soo, Im guessing you buy every single option available at any price for any product you buy? What AP is doing is offering a base model(think car, boat, SxS, tv , toaster, blender etc etc) at a reasonable price, with the ability to add on, for a price, different options. Its a business dude, and I bet there will not be ONE person who doesn't buy this pin, because of some small bumper car dude missing, but I bet a bunch will add this option if available.
Quoted from LTG:Oh you lucky person you !
LTG : )
I was lucky as not only was I able to log time on the machine, but do it with my family! 
Otto was challenging me to play more and better.
Quoted from jellikit:but do it with my family!
Quoted from jellikit:Otto was challenging me to play more and better.
I didn't realize your wife's name was Otto.
LTG : )
Quoted from LTG:I didn't realize your wife's name was Otto.
LTG : )
If you can have Jim Thornton's head on a plastic, my wife's name can be Otto.
Quoted from jellikit:If you can have Jim Thornton's head on a plastic, my wife's name can be Otto.
Deal.
LTG : )
Quoted from Roostking:Soo, Im guessing you buy every single option available at any price for any product you buy? What AP is doing is offering a base model(think car, boat, SxS, tv , toaster, blender etc etc) at a reasonable price, with the ability to add on, for a price, different options. Its a business dude, and I bet there will not be ONE person who doesn't buy this pin, because of some small bumper car dude missing, but I bet a bunch will add this option if available.
Have a game coming paid in full with JJ
(Colorado) happy to buy bumper car as a mod !
On another note I have a Houdini and love the game. Just unboxed a Stern LE
Munsters and that’s my last Stern ! Ok fun game but quality is garbage ! Stern
Should be looking in the rear view mirror
AP keep them coming !
Josh did a good job summarizing the tent features, but of course they have lots of fun subtleties that he didn't mention... just to tease a few...
Quoted from rosh:Ring Toss is about hitting the targets on the Oktober and fest target banks, alternating one side from the other
Hitting X-in-a-row lit targets gives progressively higher scores. If you're skilled (or lucky) enough to sweep the entire lit OKTOBER bank in one shot (7-in-a-row), the points will be raining down. Completing either the OKTOBER or FEST bank gives a bonus, and completing both banks gives mongo bonus.
Quoted from rosh:Looper, is about shooting the left ramp that feeds the coaster
Preferably in sequential combos, which become more and more valuable. It's very satisfying (and valuable) to hit a 5 or 6 or 7 way combo on the Roller Coaster ramp.
Quoted from rosh:Füd Frenzy -- should be self explanatory
Yes, it's a switch frenzy... but you increase the frenzy value for every *distinct* switch you hit on the playfield. Think you'll just rip the spinner like in many frenzies? That's OK, but you'd be much better off shooting a bunch of OKTOBER, FEST, or PROST targets, *then* rip the spinner. And as long as you're at it, if you shoot the spinner via the right orbit shot, try using the top lanes MagNab to catch the ball up there, and further increase the frenzy value on that TAP lane and then the pop bumpers.
That's just a few of the hidden features... I'm not spilling the beans on all of 'em, don't want to take away all the joy of discovery. 
And of course, each tent's scoring is multiplied if you have the stein associated with that tent.... and you can stack several of those steins if you really want to try blowing out the scoring for a tent.
Also... DUCKS!
Quoted from whitey:Have a game coming paid in full with JJ
(Colorado) happy to buy bumper car as a mod !
On another note I have a Houdini and love the game. Just unboxed a Stern LE
Munsters and that’s my last Stern ! Ok fun game but quality is garbage ! Stern
Should be looking in the rear view mirror
AP keep them coming !
You got a number already? I pre-ordered, but I don’t think my distributor has them yet. I asked the other day and he said he was waiting :/.
Quoted from PinMonk:shooter lane and holes - you'd be the first, JJP just did holes
Jjp potc has shooter lane protection with rails the entire length of the Shooter Lane .
Quoted from screaminr:Jjp potc has shooter lane protection with rails the entire length of the Shooter Lane .
Haven't seen a jjPotC in person yet, thanks for the info.
Quoted from Aniraf:You got a number already? I pre-ordered, but I don’t think my distributor has them yet. I asked the other day and he said he was waiting :/.
No number , don’t know shipping info
But looking forward to it !!
Quoted from jellikit:A few more shots of Oktoberfest from last night at Pac-Man Entertainment.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Look at the wireforms! This game is nuts! Otto reminds me a bit of the Ringmaster ... lol does his head pop off?
Quoted from Ferret:just to tease a few...
How am I going to beat people if you give them so many of the scoring tips? Plenty more that you did not mention, but still.
But I'll share one more, you want be to sure to being using lane change for TENT letters while in a mode, you will figure out why when you play.
Also ... Ducks!!
Quoted from chuckwurt:Did anyone mention ducks yet?
DUCKS.
not sure.. but I did hear about the ducks!!
Is there a Duck Hunt video mode?
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:not sure.. but I did hear about the ducks!!
Quoted from chuckwurt:Did anyone mention ducks yet?
DUCKS.
so what’s going on behind Otto? In the photos, it looks like there is a captive ball next to the upper slingshot - does the ball hit a switch behind Otto? And behind the VUK sink hole it appears there is a lane leading to the left. Do balls fly over the sinkhole to enter the lane or are balls coming from elsewhere to reach the VUK from the rear? Is this lane maybe connected with the captive ball somehow?
Quoted from branlon8:so what’s going on behind Otto? In the photos, it looks like there is a captive ball next to the upper slingshot - does the ball hit a switch behind Otto? And behind the VUK sink hole it appears there is a lane leading to the left. Do balls fly over the sinkhole to enter the lane or are balls coming from elsewhere to reach the VUK from the rear? Is this lane maybe connected with the captive ball somehow?
Otto is a target and hole
Just below him and wrapping around him to the left is a captive ball that rolls back over multiple points (think the strength meter kind of thing). It's drawn with art to suggest it measures how far you hit it.. but no idea what it actually does. I don't know if we ever hit it
The left orbit goes behind all this and feeds up to the rollovers. The orbit is accessible via the up/down ramp entrance to the left ramp
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:Is there a Duck Hunt video mode?
There is a Duck Hunt mode, but it's not a video mode.
Quoted from branlon8:And behind the VUK sink hole it appears there is a lane leading to the left.
This is a dead-end overrun for the VUK shot, so that instead of firm shots hitting the back wall and bouncing out without settling in the VUK, the ball loses its energy in the overrun area and falls into the VUK nicely. It works quite well.
Quoted from Ferret:There is a Duck Hunt mode, but it's not a video mode
Is there any Video Modes?
I like the card toss in Houdini.
Quoted from BarryJ:Hat was hitting ... Now we all know the reason for the disappearance ...
So are you saying this is a temporary disappearance? Or was this too difficult of an engineering problem for API to solve? Like JJP's concentric discs?
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:Is there any Video Modes?
Yes, Tap It is a video mode.
Quoted from HighVoltage:So are you saying this is a temporary disappearance?
we are hoping to figure it out so we can offer them as an add-on. May not be possible to have all three. Regardless, they need will need to be re-designed
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:Sweet, Like Tapper game?
Inspired by tapper, still tweaking it, to get the difficulty right, that third button was key to be able to do it
Quoted from rosh:Inspired by tapper, still tweaking it, to get the difficulty right, that third button was key to be able to do it
This mode was great once I learned how to play it. Move the bar tender from tap to tap with the flipper buttons. Press and hold the third button to pour. Quicker the service the higher the points it seemed like. The longer each person waited, the fewer points their pour was worth.
That would be my favorite tent mode. Love it!
Quoted from rosh:Inspired by tapper, still tweaking it, to get the difficulty right, that third button was key to be able to do it
Quoted from Roostking:Soo, Im guessing you buy every single option available at any price for any product you buy? What AP is doing is offering a base model(think car, boat, SxS, tv , toaster, blender etc etc) at a reasonable price, with the ability to add on, for a price, different options. Its a business dude, and I bet there will not be ONE person who doesn't buy this pin, because of some small bumper car dude missing, but I bet a bunch will add this option if available.
Nope. You lose. I did not buy the POTC CE because I could not see spending 3k more for it. But, I am willing to spend for the LE because it is fairly priced next to the SE. Re. OKT's bumper car figures I am now informed that their omission had more to do with them hitting the wire forms than purely a cost issue; that makes sense to me just as the concentric discs for POTC were eliminated because of design problems. If the bumper cars figures become available later, via mod or via AP, yes, I will buy them because they are part of a theme that makes the game so appealing and not because I simply "want to buy everything" as you suggest. I might note that AP has offered other "upgrades" separately such as invisiglass, shaker motors, top signs, side blades, etc. so it is not without precedent. I have no problem with that as a business model. I hope that they can do it for the bumper cars. Please just don't give me an excuse that a budget cut was the reason for their elimination. Oh, and yes, I do agree with you that most will buy them if they can. Have a great day!
Quoted from Yelobird:Sorry, Totally don't understand your point or position? Looking at revision 2 API added a shit Ton of New code, art, effort, parts, staff, design, etc etc to continue to make the game great and at 0$ price increase to you. They omit a single meaningless plastic figure and you're up in arms that they are somehow cheating you or skimping on the game? Just doesn't make sense. And furthermore, they Are doing the right thing selling 1 great game at 1 affordable level. Please don't fall for the "if only you made a Premium" we would all buy it. BS! Everyone will be lining up to castrate API like a Monkey for pinching the market as they do with Stern and JJP. API nor any company will Ever make everyone happy. I for one and impressed they even acknowledged or shared why they omitted that meaningless part. Stand up honesty is rarely a bad sign for a companies future growth. And yes, many mod makers will probably make these and other parts. The difference is we are not forcing you to Buy them that is your decision. This game is API's decision and so far it appears to be a good one!
Dave, sorry if I touched a nerve by expressing my opinion that AP was cutting something for cost reasons that in my mind is part of the charm of the game. I was not denigrating AP as being a lousy company or dishonest. I simply thought, imho, that it was a poor place to find some savings. I am now informed that their omission had more to do with the figures hitting the wire forms rather than purely a cost issue; that makes sense to me just as the concentric discs for POTC were eliminated because of their design problems. Shi_ happens. But, if the bumper cars figures become available later, via a mod or via AP, yes, I will buy them because they really are part of a theme that makes the game so appealing. I might note that AP has offered other "upgrades" separately such as invisiglass, shaker motors, top signs, side blades, etc. so it is not without precedent that they might do it for the bumper cars as well. I just wish that Rosh's initial explanation of their elimination as being a budget issue was more complete and mentioned the design problem. Have a great day and hope to meet you at TPF.
Quoted from arcadem:Dave, sorry if I touched a nerve by expressing my opinion that AP was cutting something for cost reasons that in my mind is part of the charm of the game. I was not denigrating AP as being a lousy company or dishonest. I simply thought, imho, that it was a poor place to find some savings. I am now informed that their omission had more to do with the figures hitting the wire forms rather than purely a cost issue; that makes sense to me just as the concentric discs for POTC were eliminated because of their design problems. Shi_ happens. But, if the bumper cars figures become available later, via a mod or via AP, yes, I will buy them because they really are part of a theme that makes the game so appealing. I might note that AP has offered other "upgrades" separately such as invisiglass, shaker motors, top signs, side blades, etc. so it is not without precedent that they might do it for the bumper cars as well. I just wish that Rosh's initial explanation of their elimination as being a budget issue was more complete and mentioned the design problem. Have a great day and hope to meet you at TPF.
Spot on reply and feedback. No body likes change unless its a Plus change but often times there is a reason beyond $$ for change. Look forward to meeting you and others at TPF and trying this game.
Quoted from rosh:we are hoping to figure it out so we can offer them as an add-on. May not be possible to have all three. Regardless, they need will need to be re-designed
So glad to hear that they might be available in the future. Though seemingly 'small' (no pun intended), they are a big part of the game's theme and overall appeal. I hope that you will also find a way to offer a great light up topper like the one you did for Houdini and invisiglass as options. It seems like you are well on your way to creating a great game.
lots of potential cool options for mods to put on top of the bumpers, particularly if you are not wed to the bumper cars concept , ( to me the bumper cars need the drivers , at the first glance of the playfield without the drivers I thought why do they have glitter clogs there?)
maybe a nice replica of a mug of frothy beer on a bed of orange yellow and red leaves like they are in Oktober?
weiner dogs too!!
Put little baby mascots of your favorite teams in them. Me redlegs, whodey, and scratch the UK wildcat. Haha
Quoted from pinballjj:lots of potential cool options for mods to put on top of the bumpers, particularly if you are not wed to the bumper cars concept , ( to me the bumper cars need the drivers , at the first glance of the playfield without the drivers I thought why do they have glitter clogs there?)
maybe a nice replica of a mug of frothy beer on a bed of orange yellow and red leaves like they are in Oktober?
weiner dogs too!!
Go the Zingy Bingy route and make them boobs.
Quoted from 3pinballs:any pics of the bumper cars,
Scroll through image gallery for this thread at the top. This picture is in there. A duck in leiderhosen, a hot dog, and monkey with the bandage on his crotch.
LTG : )
eba5270565afce9fc3f9e578778bf5af318024ff (resized).jpegQuoted from LTG:A duck in leiderhosen, a hot dog, and monkey with the bandage on his crotch.
LTG : )
My question is, how slow of a healer is this monkey? That bandage has been on a long time...
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